China and the United States have finally agreed to commence moves that will be aimed at stabilising relations to avoid veering into conflict but did not announce any major breakthroughs during a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the roughly 30-minute meeting with Xi on Monday was Blinken’s final engagement on the closely watched trip, which included talks with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, and Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
There are hopes that the two days of talks could lead to a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Xi this year. The two men last met on the sidelines of the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali in November, pledging more frequent communication although ties have since deteriorated over issues ranging from the self-ruled island of Taiwan to espionage concerns.
‘The Chinese side has made our position clear, and the two sides have agreed to follow through the common understandings President Biden and I had reached in Bali,’ Xi told the US Secretary of state in Beijing, adding that the ‘two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues’.
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During the otherwise closed-door talks, Xi said China ‘hopes to see a sound and steady China-US relationship’ and believes the two countries ‘can overcome various difficulties’, according to a readout by China’s state news agency Xinhua.
He also urged the US not to hurt China’s legitimate rights and interests’.
Blinken said the two countries ‘have an obligation and responsibility” to manage their relationship and the US was ‘committed to doing that’.
He told reporters afterwards that in every meeting, he called for ‘direct engagement and sustained communication at senior levels’ to ‘responsibly manage differences and ensure that competition does not veer into conflict’.
‘I heard the same from my Chinese counterparts. We both agree on the need to stabilise our relationship.’
He said he agreed with China’s leadership on the need to ‘stabilise’ relations but that he was ‘clear-eyed about the challenges’ posed by China.
‘We have no illusions about the challenges of managing this relationship. There are many issues on which we profoundly – even vehemently – disagree,’ he said.
Biden meanwhile said he thought relations between the two countries were on the “right trail”, and indicated that progress was made during Blinken’s trip.